Trapped woman hit by freight train

Rescuers desperately tried to free a woman trapped on rail
lines as a train approached this morning.

The westbound freight train hit two people on a level
crossing at Morningside train station in Auckland about
9.10am. One person is in a serious condition in hospital and
another suffered minor injuries.

Shocked witnesses watched as a woman on a mobility scooter
got stuck on the crossing.

One witness, who wanted to be known only as Megan, said the
woman got her wheels stuck on the tracks. Another woman and a
man tried to free her when they saw the train coming.

Megan said a third person came "flying in like Superman" to
try to free the woman.

By that stage the train driver had seen them and was
desperately sounding the horn, which could be heard hundreds
of metres away, but he could not avoid the impact, which
Megan said was "horrific".

She thought two of the rescuers managed to jump free. The
woman who was helping had a bloodied knee but she didn't know
if that was from the impact or falling to the ground.

Megan said she couldn't believe what she had just seen. "I
just sat in the car for a minute saying 'did that really
happen?"'

Some people who saw the incident were too shocked to speak
and were being comforted by Victim Support.

One man fought back tears as he recalled the desperate
attempts to free the woman. He didn't know how the woman had
been stuck on the tracks and watched in horror as the
rescuers shook the wheelchair to try to free her.